The Redsin Tower (2006)
Directed by: Fred Vogel
Written by: Shelby Jackson and Fred Vogel
Released by: Toe Tag Pictures
"I will prove my love for you!"
Having just broken up with her long time boyfriend, Kim (played by Bethany Newell) decides to go out partying with a group of her friends to help get her mind off things. They decide to head over to the dilapidated Redsin tower...a tower built several hundred years ago by local resident Mateo Redsin. What Kim and her friend's don't know is that Mateo was obsessed with learning more about the human soul and would invite the poor towns folk to his tower where he would torture and experiment on them in an attempt to capture their souls. In doing so, he unleashed evil spirits upon the Redsin Tower which took possession of his wife's body and continues to haunt the place to this very day.
The film was co-written and directed by Fred Vogel, the man behind the fake snuff film series 'August Underground'. The jury is still out in terms of how I feel about Vogel as a filmmaker. Don't get me wrong, the guy is an amazing special effects artist, having been a former teacher at Tom Savini's makeup effects school in Pittsburgh...but in terms of actual filmmaking talent, 'August Underground' really doesn't showcase anything other than a series of death sequences and shaky "shot on home video" camera work. I was quite excited when I found out that Fred was making 'The Redsin Tower'...a REAL movie at last! I thought the trailer (shown below) looked fantastic. A boyfriend seeking revenge on the girl who dumped him...cool story...creepy atmosphere....and a ton of blood and guts!
The trailer itself is a bit misleading...yes there is a psycho ex-boyfriend out for revenge, however there is absolutely no mention at all of the supernatural elements involved in this picture. To be honest, I was actually quite surprised by the sudden change in the story midway through once they reached the tower as it was something completely unexpected.
To give my honest opinion...as much as I REALLY wanted to like this movie, I can't say that I did. Firstly, there are no likeable characters in the film. Most of the acting is pretty bad...the ex-boyfriend Mitch (played by Perry Tiberio) looked like he was shitting his pants in every scene that he's in. You know when you're on the toilet constipated and there's that face that you make as you try and squeeze out a gigantic sized turd? Well that's the face that he makes throughout the entire film...his "angry face". The rest of the cast, other than maybe the star, Bethany Newell, were equally as bad and annoying. To me that's one of the biggest downfalls of any movie. If the audience doesn't care about the characters in your film than they'll quickly lose interest.
The writing was bad...borderline terrible. The entire film is filled with atrocious dialog and corny jokes which fall flat. For the first hour, nothing really happens. I often found myself looking at the clock, wondering how much longer I had before the movie was over. Other than a brief altercation at a gas station where Kim's Ex shows up and gets stomped by her new boyfriend, nothing remotely interesting happens otherwise. A bunch of stoners sitting around getting high, drinking beer and talking about hooking up with other partygoers.
Even though the first hour felt like a total waste of time, the final 20 minutes was beyond awesome. This is where Fred's talent really comes into play as we see a woman chopped to pieces with a hatchet, a man vomiting blood and maggots, and a woman raped by an invisible demonic being. It was during these scenes where I finally started to believe in Vogel as a filmmaker...but than the movie quickly ended, leaving me to write this review.
Overall I can't say that I liked 'The Redsin Tower', although I certainly didn't hate it either. Towards the end of the movie it becomes very reminiscent of an 'Evil Dead' film with a vast array of impressive visual and audio effects which I really dug...but there just wasn't enough of that to give this a positive review. Fans of Vogel and his 'August Underground' films will probably be a bit disappointed with this as well by the lack of gore and violence in this film compared to those. If I were to make a strong recommendation to Fred Vogel, I'd suggest he stick with doing makeup effects because that's really where his talent lies...not filmmaking.
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Watch at your own risk.
Written by: Shelby Jackson and Fred Vogel
Released by: Toe Tag Pictures
"I will prove my love for you!"
Having just broken up with her long time boyfriend, Kim (played by Bethany Newell) decides to go out partying with a group of her friends to help get her mind off things. They decide to head over to the dilapidated Redsin tower...a tower built several hundred years ago by local resident Mateo Redsin. What Kim and her friend's don't know is that Mateo was obsessed with learning more about the human soul and would invite the poor towns folk to his tower where he would torture and experiment on them in an attempt to capture their souls. In doing so, he unleashed evil spirits upon the Redsin Tower which took possession of his wife's body and continues to haunt the place to this very day.
The film was co-written and directed by Fred Vogel, the man behind the fake snuff film series 'August Underground'. The jury is still out in terms of how I feel about Vogel as a filmmaker. Don't get me wrong, the guy is an amazing special effects artist, having been a former teacher at Tom Savini's makeup effects school in Pittsburgh...but in terms of actual filmmaking talent, 'August Underground' really doesn't showcase anything other than a series of death sequences and shaky "shot on home video" camera work. I was quite excited when I found out that Fred was making 'The Redsin Tower'...a REAL movie at last! I thought the trailer (shown below) looked fantastic. A boyfriend seeking revenge on the girl who dumped him...cool story...creepy atmosphere....and a ton of blood and guts!
The trailer itself is a bit misleading...yes there is a psycho ex-boyfriend out for revenge, however there is absolutely no mention at all of the supernatural elements involved in this picture. To be honest, I was actually quite surprised by the sudden change in the story midway through once they reached the tower as it was something completely unexpected.
To give my honest opinion...as much as I REALLY wanted to like this movie, I can't say that I did. Firstly, there are no likeable characters in the film. Most of the acting is pretty bad...the ex-boyfriend Mitch (played by Perry Tiberio) looked like he was shitting his pants in every scene that he's in. You know when you're on the toilet constipated and there's that face that you make as you try and squeeze out a gigantic sized turd? Well that's the face that he makes throughout the entire film...his "angry face". The rest of the cast, other than maybe the star, Bethany Newell, were equally as bad and annoying. To me that's one of the biggest downfalls of any movie. If the audience doesn't care about the characters in your film than they'll quickly lose interest.
The writing was bad...borderline terrible. The entire film is filled with atrocious dialog and corny jokes which fall flat. For the first hour, nothing really happens. I often found myself looking at the clock, wondering how much longer I had before the movie was over. Other than a brief altercation at a gas station where Kim's Ex shows up and gets stomped by her new boyfriend, nothing remotely interesting happens otherwise. A bunch of stoners sitting around getting high, drinking beer and talking about hooking up with other partygoers.
Even though the first hour felt like a total waste of time, the final 20 minutes was beyond awesome. This is where Fred's talent really comes into play as we see a woman chopped to pieces with a hatchet, a man vomiting blood and maggots, and a woman raped by an invisible demonic being. It was during these scenes where I finally started to believe in Vogel as a filmmaker...but than the movie quickly ended, leaving me to write this review.
Overall I can't say that I liked 'The Redsin Tower', although I certainly didn't hate it either. Towards the end of the movie it becomes very reminiscent of an 'Evil Dead' film with a vast array of impressive visual and audio effects which I really dug...but there just wasn't enough of that to give this a positive review. Fans of Vogel and his 'August Underground' films will probably be a bit disappointed with this as well by the lack of gore and violence in this film compared to those. If I were to make a strong recommendation to Fred Vogel, I'd suggest he stick with doing makeup effects because that's really where his talent lies...not filmmaking.
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Watch at your own risk.
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